Kenya and Botswana ask Ukraine to return citizens who fought for Russia

Diplomatic pressure from Africa

Several states on the African continent have officially appealed to Kyiv to return their citizens who fell into Ukrainian captivity while fighting on the side of Russia. Specifically, Nairobi is actively negotiating the release of five Kenyans, while Gaborone is attempting to repatriate one of its nationals.

Kenyan President William Ruto personally discussed this situation in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky.

Classification as victims of human trafficking

Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi emphasised at a parliamentary session in Nairobi that the country insists on recognising the detained Kenyans as "victims of international human trafficking" rather than prisoners of war.

«Обставини їхнього вербування та призову відповідають торгівлі людьми» (The circumstances of their recruitment and conscription correspond to human trafficking), the minister stated.

According to Mudavadi, the men report that they were recruited to Russia under the pretext of employment. The youngest Kenyan currently held in a Ukrainian camp is 23 years old.

Deceptive recruitment scheme

The governments of African countries claim that some of their citizens were deceived, then sent to Russia and forced to serve in the Russian army. They were allegedly promised civilian jobs — specifically as drivers, security guards, or cooks.

Zimbabwe has also expressed similar concern. The country's government voiced worry over the deceptive recruitment of citizens abroad. An official statement notes that some recruits were sent to active fronts in their host countries without prior military training.

However, the Zimbabwean document did not explicitly name Russia and Ukraine. Nevertheless, several individuals were previously detained in the country on suspicion of involvement in recruitment, including two Russian nationals. They are awaiting trial.

Statistics and restrictions on repatriation

On 21 August, Botswana reported that eight citizens were stopped at airports in the country, South Africa, and Ethiopia, where they were planned to be recruited into the Russian army. A month earlier, the country's authorities had warned the population about the risk of forced recruitment.

According to data from the Ukrainian government website, Russia has recruited over 28,000 foreigners from 135 countries. More than 5,000 of them have died. Ukrainian military forces have taken prisoners of war from 51 countries.

Documents seen by Bloomberg indicate that Ukraine is holding at least 213 foreign military personnel, excluding Russians and North Korean citizens. Among them are 37 Africans.

Meanwhile, the possibility of their return home remains limited. Ukraine insists that foreign prisoners of war can only be returned in exchange for Ukrainians held by Russia.

According to Mudavadi, approximately 84 Kenyans have died or gone missing, another 34 are in hospitals in Russia, and 62 have already returned home.